How we cite our quotes: Chapter, Paragraph
Quote #1
I stretched my arms and legs with great difficulty, the chains even heavier than before. For all the qualities of my master Otto—his welcoming smile, his gentle laugh, and his store of Frankish phrases—he had one sure defect.
He had cheated the king. (2.29-30)
Edmund really struggles with a moral dilemma here. He loves his master, but even though Otto has all of these good qualities, he is still dishonest. Cheating the king and stashing wealth for himself meant that he wasn't being an honest member of society.
Quote #2
"I'm making a mistake, I am afraid before the saints. I'm making a terrible mistake to let a thief's apprentice sit at my table. But it is a blunder I am making with my eyes open." (4.18)
Sir Nigel voices his worry that taking on the apprentice of a thief reflects badly on him. It's all about the company you keep, and people—nay, the freaking saints—might question Nigel's principles if he fraternizes with Edmund. Nigel takes Edmund on anyway, though, which shows that one of his principles is taking a risk on people who desperately need some help.
Quote #3
I had never drawn a breath which was not owed to my father or my master, and now I was indebted in all ways to my new lord, the knight. As I walked I felt the long leash tighten around my neck, my deceit. (5.24)
Because he's so aware of morals, Edmund feels awful when he does something wrong—when he runs away from Nigel, he describes his deceit as a rope around his neck. Not sticking to sound principles makes Edmund feel almost as if he's choking.
Quote #4
I was betraying my father's last words to me: "Be proud, Edmund." Proud meant virtuous, above any thought of wrongdoing. His breath so thick in his throat the words were like ice breaking underfoot, his lips ash-black and cracked. (5.26)
Pride equals virtue in this book. It's the most important principle—so much so that it's the last thing Edmund's dad tells him before he dies. This really sticks with Edmund, too; it's kind of like a voice inside his head when he knows he's doing something wrong. In this case, he's remembering the words as he gets ready to run away from Nigel's fortress with his money.
Quote #5
To have no regard for one's soul was like caring nothing for one's mother—it was impossible to imagine a man so callous or wicked. (7.14)
We all have different ideas about what it means to take care of our souls, but pretty much everyone agrees that it's a dark and horrible thing to not care about your mom. Someone makes a comment about Rannulf not caring about his soul, and here Edmund explains just how offensive that claim is.
Quote #6
It was a strange, delicious feeling to see fear light a man's eyes, and all because of the strength of my hands. I lifted the man from the ground by the fabric of his cape, a small man, under all his clothes, and a weak man, now that he was tired.
I could not suppress a troubling thought: how easy it would be to take his life. (16.45-46)
It's kind of a weird clash of principles when you're training to fight in a war, act nobly, and kill people. But at the same time, virtue is a good thing to practice if you're going to be swinging a sword. Here, Edmund has a weird moment where he actually has the power to take somebody's life. He kind of likes the power, but recognizes that it's not the appropriate time or place to use it. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Quote #7
"Surely, my lord, a bow would have been better luck."
"An iron-tipped arrow, it's true, but where's the courage in killing with an arrow?" (25.14-15)
This is all about honor. Edmund tells Rannulf that killing with a bow and arrow might be more effective than using a sword, but the knight argues that there's something kind of dishonorable about using a bow and taking a life with so little effort on your part. He thinks that fighting with principles requires you to swing a weapon with your own arm and be there to witness the consequences.
Quote #8
"There was your chance to run a pagan through to the heart," said Hubert, "and you traded by-your-leaves, like two wives at a fair."
"He was a knight-at-arms, at his ease," I said, using the lines from a lay about a knight outside his lady's garden, one of Miles's favorites.
Hubert urged his mount forward, and I did not follow him. (25.55-57)
Hubert's principle here is simple: Kill the infidels. But Edmund sees that things aren't so black-and-white. It's not honorable to kill someone while you're watering your horses off the battlefield, and even though the Saracen is from the opposing army, the battle isn't personal—it's not about individuals. So individual respect can't go out the window just because you're at war.
Quote #9
"Rannulf told Hubert he has all the sense of a pig's farrow. Rannulf told him that you and the Saracen knight were well met, and that in every way you acted like a man-at-arms." (26.21)
Rannulf defends Edmund in the Saracen ordeal, saying Edmund showed solid principles in being polite to the foreign knight. Hubert, on the other hand, doesn't have any sense to realize that you can't just kill an enemy soldier randomly.
Quote #10
"I am thirty-seven years old," said Nigel. "And tired in my marrow. Who knows how many more years God will grant me? I am not an abbot or a priest—I've always envied those godly men of books, each morning winning Heaven's ear with a prayer. It's so easy for those gentlefolk. I am an ordinary fighting man, Hubert. A worthless man—and I have been called to wear my shield for the Queen of Heaven." (34.34)
In Nigel's mind, "ordinary" means "worthless." But at the same time, he knows he has an obligation and he's committed to doing his duty.